Black Library Games Day Celebration 201112 by Various

Author:Various
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-09T15:39:19+00:00

Plague Priest

C.L. Werner

A little wooden shrine stood just outside the clay-walled farmhut. Devoted to the nature spirits whose caprices could inflict such hardship upon the Reikland’s virgaters, the altar-like assemblage of logs was festooned with a bizarre array of offerings to appease the malignant forces. The cracked beaks of crows and shrikes were lined across the surface of the shrine, flanked by a stone bowl of barley and a bunch of wheat stalks. The withered paw of a fox, killed while stealing chickens, was tied to the narrow upright suspended above the shrine. A human finger, cut from the hand of a ­vagabond trespasser, was lashed to the top of the shrine, pointing upwards into the sky and the ancient gods of wind and storm.

Beady black eyes watched from the shadows beneath the shrine as two men began removing heavy sacks of grain from a barn. The watcher stifled a little chitter of amusement as the men loaded their burden into an ox-cart. The smell of sweat and toil rolled off the brawny serfs, mixing with the scent of their oxen and the fug of the farm’s other animals.

Another smell, a more subtle smell, went unnoticed by the serfs. It was more important than any of the other smells, because it was the smell of death. The reek arose from the sacks of grain the men handled.

Right beneath their noses and the fools couldn’t even smell it!

Skritsch lashed his long naked tail through the dirt, a feeling of withering contempt flaring through his brain. Humans were such contemptible creatures – blind, odious things without the wit of a flea! Their vision, their hearing, these were feeble enough, but their sense of smell was practically nonexistent! They couldn’t even recognise their own scent, much less that of another creature! Truly these weak, pathetic things endured only through the sufferance of the Horned One!

As the men finished their labours, Skritsch scurried from his refuge. Had either of the men turned about in that moment, he would have observed the grotesque sight of an enormous rat-like creature dressed in filthy black rags scrambling on all fours across the muddy ground as it darted for the shelter of a pigsty. They might have noted the rusty blade tied to the monster’s waist with a cord of ratgut or observed the malignant intelligence gleaming in its black eyes. Old fables of the underfolk, the inhuman inhabitants who dwelt in the eternal darkness of the underworld, might have occurred to them and sent them fleeing in horror.

But Skritsch was too cunning to be seen, moving only when he was certain the men would not notice him. The skaven thrived upon the ignorance of men, exploiting their anonymity to steal and scavenge off the prosperity of mankind. Weapons, clothing, food and slaves, all of these the hapless humans provided their secret neighbours. In their foolishness they blamed the thefts and abductions on bandits and wolves and ghosts of every stripe, little guessing the true cause of their misfortunes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.